Book Feature for Justice Delayed is Justice Denied by Preston Howard

Title: JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED
Author: Preston Howard & Anne Howard
Publisher: PHP
Pages: 335
Genre: Noir Crime Thriller

Retired attorney Preston Howard obsesses about the newly elected, bombastic and narcissistic president, and three corrupt Austin police officers whom he represented and saved from capital murder charges and execution ten years before. After his wife divorces him and his drinking reaches gargantuan proportions, Howard’s thoughts turn to murderous impulses as the only way he can stamp out one, or both of his fixations. Howard and his co-author, daughter Anne Howard, tell the story, often with hilarious observations, of compulsion, addiction, love, and in the end, the search for justice.


Praise:
“I thought Preston Howard’s first book was terrific, but Justice Delayed is Justice Denied is a home run! One of the best books I’ve read in years.” – John P. Davis, Knoxville, Tennessee

“Preston Howard’s writing and insights into politics and the legal system keep getting better and better. Justice Delayed is hilarious and on point!” – Amy Margulies, Austin, Texas

My Thoughts: It took me a bit to get into because the story is told primarily thru emails, journal pages, and so forth but was an interesting read once I became accustomed to the writing style. It was the first book I have experienced told in this way so it was quite the experience.

A favorite quote: "You don't have to get nervous about the M-word," she continued. "The retiree health insurance I have from my firm in California is way to lavish, and I'd lose it if we marry. We'll just have to live out our remaining days in sin."

*I was given a copy for my honest review.

order your copy below

Amazon → https://amzn.to/2oPsovi

 

Meet The Author

 

Preston Howard has retired from his rewarding profession as a labor lawyer, where he represented law enforcement officers not only in Texas but across the country. As a renowned expert, he spoke at meetings and conferences about topical labor law issues not only in the United States, but in other countries as well.  He now lives in Hot Springs, Arkansas, where he spends his time writing novels.
His first book, “The Sheltering Palms,” was highly praised. One reviewer said, “…had me hooked right from the start.” Another person wrote, “…storytelling at its best.”

His latest effort, “Justice Delayed is Justice Denied,” tracks his struggles with retirement: a divorce from his wife, alcoholism, and thoughts of murder either of the president or three corrupt police offices he represented ten years before. As he wrestles with these concerns, he also dips his foot into the dating scene, meeting an attractive senior lady. As in his first novel, Preston Howard’s observations about the human condition are hilarious and on point.

website & social links

Website → https://prestonhowardauthor.com

Facebook →  https://www.facebook.com/prestonhowardauthor/

The Orange Moon Affair by AFN Clarke

The Orange Moon Affair - by the bestselling author of CONTACT - is the first book of a compelling new thriller series, an action-packed conspiracy with a hero and heroine you hold your breath for. If you enjoy the action of Robert Ludlum, the intensity of Brad Thor and the international intrigue of Daniel Silva, then this book’s for you!

Ex-British Special Forces soldier Thomas Gunn is drawn back into his old life of international intrigue and danger following the murder of his billionaire father. The deeper he digs the more complicated the puzzle becomes until he finds himself working for MI5 uncovering a global conspiracy that puts the freedom of the western world at grave risk. His girlfriend Julie becomes his accomplice surprising him with her loyalty, strength of character and physical prowess.

While traversing the globe being shot at, shot down and losing loved ones – a haunting question tears at his soul – was his father really at the heart of this evil conspiracy? Or was he a pawn in a larger more insidious game that even he could not control?

Seeking the final answer could cost Thomas dearly, ripping from him all that he most loves and cherishes and leaving him questioning his past, his future and what kind of person he is or wants to become. The final outcome depends on him. Or does it?

As a former Captain of Britain’s elite Parachute Regiment and son of an MI6 operative the author brings his own unique and eye-opening experiences to the character and exploits of Thomas Gunn, as well as an unsettling blurring of the lines between fiction and reality when exploring the ruthless abuse of power and position for personal gain.

“… The Orange Moon Affair is timely, eye-opening, fast-paced … you will find you want to turn the next page, and the next page, and the next … the first of the Thomas Gunn series … you don’t want to miss them!” 5 Stars, Remy Benoit.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG13

More details about the author

Connect with AFN Clarke on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.afnclarke.com/

Are Mentors Important? by AFN Clarke

My first book Contact took two years to finally be accepted for publication. Two years and seventeen rejections from publishers, not because they didn’t like the book but because they weren’t willing to take the risk on a tell-it-as-it-was soldier’s story about a highly controversial time in history.

Then I received a rejection letter from John Blackwell of Martin Secker & Warburg (an imprint of William Heinemann) with an impressive list of Nobel Prize winners. It was a rejection with a difference though, because John suggested that if I decided to rewrite certain sections of the book, they would be willing to take another look. Taking a week off work, I went to Spain, holed up in a rented apartment and rewrote Contact. That version was accepted and the book became an instant best seller.

So what has that to do with mentoring? Simply put, John Blackwell along with his colleague Peter Grose became my mentors at a crucial time in my career as an author, steering me gently through the minefield of having a bestselling book, the lunacy of instant fame and myriad interviews that came with its success. But that was only the tip of their contribution to my career.

I was to learn that they had a unique way of relating to authors. A deeply personal relationship where they did not just advise and discuss writing issues, but quietly debated the intricacies of writing and the reasons why people feel the need to write books. They never forced their opinions on me but rather initiated intriguing discussions to open my eyes to a new way of looking at my work and its impact on a reader. Their wealth of experience left me humbled and yet uplifted, eager to continue to write and explore this extraordinary medium.

It’s this kind of mentoring that is crucial to any author and I owe a lot to John and Peter, but all was not in total agreement at the time and I still had a very important lesson to learn about trusting myself as an author and not totally surrendering to my mentors.

After CONTACT was published I wrote the first draft of The Orange Moon Affair, a thriller that involved drug dealing, arms smuggling and financial corruption. The story was set around an American car company in Belfast, and was sourced from actual events surrounding the Delorean Car Company of which I had some personal knowledge and experience.

But to my frustration John rejected the book because he simply didn’t believe the basis of the story. Several months later, Delorean was all over the news for drug smuggling and unimaginable acts of corruption. John apologized, as my story had actually been profoundly prophetic. He wished he had published it ahead of Delorean’s downfall. But publishing after the fact wasn’t an option.

Yet the basic concept stayed with me, and now thirty years later The Orange Moon Affair has a new lease on life. It’s been completely rewritten as the first book in an ongoing series of action-packed thrillers dealing with global conspiracies that pose intense dangers to our world today.

I guess I’m a slow learner, but I’m glad that I finally followed John’s advice that “if you really believe in your work, don’t let anyone stand in your way, even your editor”. When John died in the late 1990s, it was a savage loss, but I think he would be proud of my work to date and would relish the expansion of creative opportunities and the freedom that the move from printed books to eBooks gives authors today. And I hope he’s still willing to give me a gentle nudge in the right direction when I need it.

AFN CLARKE is the son of a British MI6 operative, pilot, sailor, screenwriter, father of four who’s lived all over the world, served in the British Army and recovered from the physical/emotional traumas of war. His bestselling memoir Contact was serialized in a British newspaper and made into an award winning BBCTV film. He’s insatiably curious, loves heated discussions and has a rascally sense of humor. He now writes fiction of various genres – thrillers (The Orange Moon Affair and An Unquiet American); human drama (Dry Tortugas), humor/satire (Dreams from the Death Age; Armageddon), horror (Collisions) with more coming soon. For more information visit http://www.afnclarke.com, connect on Facebook or Twitter (@AFN Clarke).

Guest Post/Feature - Chasing the Lost by Bob Mayer

Synopsis:

NY Times Bestselling Author, former Green Beret and West Point Graduate, Bob Mayer.

“A pulsing technothriller. A nailbiter in the best tradition of adventure fiction.” Publishers Weekly ref Bob Mayer

Horace Chase arrives on Hilton Head Island to pay his last respects at the Intracoastal Waterway where his late mother’s ashes were spread and to inspect the home his mother left him in her will. He’s been recently forced into retirement, his divorce is officially final, and now he’s standing in the middle of the front yard of his ‘new’ house where a tree has crashed right through the center of it.

What could possibly go wrong?

Within six hours of arriving on Hilton Head, Chase is exchanging gunfire with men who’ve kidnapped a young boy and tried to grab the boy’s mother, Sarah Briggs. Soon he’s waist deep in an extortion plot to funnel a hundred million dollars of Superbowl on-line gambling money into an offshore bank account or else the boy dies.

Dave Riley has long retired from the military and living peacefully on sleepy Dafuskie Island off the coast of South Carolina. Sort of. Actually he’s bored, feeling old, and just a bit cranky running his deceased uncle’s small-time bookie operation.

Horace Chase, meet Dave Riley. Riley-Chase.

Chase and Riley assemble a team of misfits and eccentrics as they take on the powerful Russian mob in the lawless tidal lands of the Low Country to get the boy back.

Meet Erin: Chase’s long-ago summer fling, now a veterinarian and not interested in men any more, at least that way. But her suturing skills and her knowledge of the island bring assets the team needs. Especially after Chase’s first visit with the Russian requires a bit of the former.

Meet Gator: an ex-Ranger, iron-pumping, fire-breathing hulk of a redneck, with a soft spot in his heart for Erin, and steroids burning in his muscles to hurt people. As long as Riley and Chase point him in the right direction, the rest of the populace should be all right.

Meet Kono: a Gullah, descendant of the free slaves who fled to the barrier islands in the 19th century and developed their own culture. He nurses his own pain and secrets, but heeds Chase’s call to renew their childhood friendship. Especially when he learns the target is the Russians.

It adds up to a fiery confrontation to rescue the young boy, and settle some old scores.

But Riley and Chase need to remember a basic tenet from their days in covert operations: Nothing is ever as it appears.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG

More details about the author

Connect with Bob Mayer on Facebook & Twitter

Website

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Guest Post - A Day in the Life of Bob Mayer
Thanks for having me guest post on your blog. I appreciate the opportunity as my 51st title, The Green Berets: Chasing the Lost is now out and #1 in Men’s Adventure, even though a woman is at the core of the story. Aren’t they always?

A Day in the Life of Bob Mayer

I wake up with my wife and two hairy yellow labs shoved in between us: Cool Gus and Sassy Becca. I can teach labs how to sleep very well. Which actually, isn’t that hard to do. I grab a cup of coffee, go downstairs and turn on the computer. I’d like to say I had the self-discipline to write a thousand words before checking email, but show me someone who really does that, and well, they’re weird.

Let me back up. First I take the dogs outside for their morning ritual (TMI?) and walk up the stone walkway to our mail box, which is a workout by itself, and get the NY Times. My wife will then read the entire paper. I mean the entire paper. She’s a walking font of useless information.

Until I need that information as she’s my “story whisperer”. She can ‘stream’ story to me when I need it. She also always has the remote control when we sit in bed in the evening and watch whatever it is she decides I need to watch. I’m much smarter because of that. For The Green Berets: Chasing The Lost, I had a really cool ending, which had a great twist. I was talking to her about the story one day, and she took that great twist and took it a step from awesome into totally wicked. Readers seem to agree so far from the reviews and emails I’m getting.

Anyway, I then bring up what I wrote the previous day and start there. I always have what I call a story grid; an excel spreadsheet. The first column is chapter #; then start page #; end page #; then location, time and date, and a brief summary of action in a scene. Thus each line is a scene. This is not an outline. It’s a summary of what I’ve written so far because I am terrible with details. I need that sheet to remind me what I wrote. My wife knows she can hide something from me in the fridge simply by putting it behind something else.

I split my time between writing, promotion, and running Cool Gus Publishing. I broke from NY Publishing in 2009, because I looked forward three years and saw the landscape being very different. And it is. I have over fifty titles now, and by publishing them through my own company, I do so much better than I ever did even when I was hitting the NY Times Bestsellers list. We also work with a handful of authors and are looking to sign two or three more (We’re publishing Jennifer Probst’s new series early in 2014) authors who have a following.

I work seven days a week and rarely take time off. I traveled all over the world when I was a Green Beret, so my traveling days are done and I’ve used up all of my adrenaline. I let my characters in my books use the adrenaline. In this book, Chasing the Lost, my hero from my first six Green Beret books, Dave Riley is now retired and living on Dafuskie Island (where Pat Control taught school) and my hero from Chasing the Ghost, Horace Chase, moves into a house on Hilton Head, one I actually lived in for a couple of years. The story has a woman at the center and works on the theme of how far should one be loyal?

It’s a great read, at least that’s what readers have been saying, with a hell of an ending that you won’t see coming, because I didn’t see it coming until my wife gave it to me.

Hope you enjoy and feel free to visit us at CoolGus.com

Guest Post/Book Feature GUARDIANS INC.: THE CYPHER by Julian Rosado

GUARDIANS INC.: THE CYPHER

Synopsis:
A chance reading of a newspaper ad will send 16 year old Thomas Byrne into the world within our world. Following the ad he will find Guardians Incorporated. A seven thousand year old organization charged with protecting the balance between Magic and technology.

Through their guidance technology has kept Magic at bay since the Renaissance, but the balance is shifting and soon all those creatures we’ve driven into myth and legend will come back with a vengeance. To protect the present, Guardians Incorporated needs to know the future and to unlock the future they need a cypher.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – YA Fantasy / Adventure

Rating – G

More details about the author

Connect with Julian Rosado-Machain on Facebook

Website http://www.guardiansinc.com/

Guest Post - 10 Tips for Becoming a Better Writer - Julian Rosado
Read a lot, and not only of the genre you write about, expand your horizons by reading other genres.

Keep writing! And when writer’s block hits, and it will. Keep the juice flowing by writing descriptions of everyday objects. I have an essay about my computer mouse somewhere… Just keep writing.

Be humble.

Do the research and do it thoroughly.

Try to go beyond what you wanted to do in the first place.

Don’t overdo it!

Find an editor, no matter how good you are (or think you are) editors are your best friends.

Accept all criticism, yes, even the hateful criticism. Develop a thick skin, but not so thick as to blind you about the constructive criticism.

Trust your editor.

Don’t rush it! It will come, if you’re not satisfied with what you wrote. Erase it and write it again.

In this day and age, writers need to become marketers as well, so research and prepare a marketing plan for when that manuscript is ready.

The Angry Woman Suite by Lee Fullbright

2012 DISCOVERY AWARD WINNER, FIRST PLACE, LITERARY FICTION

More from Kirkus Reviews:

“Raised in a crumbling New England mansion by four women with personalities as split as a cracked mirror, young Francis Grayson has an obsessive need to fix them all. There’s his mother, distant and beautiful Magdalene; his disfigured, suffocating Aunt Stella; his odious grandmother; and the bane of his existence, his abusive and delusional Aunt Lothian. For years, Francis plays a tricky game of duck and cover with the women, turning to music to stay sane. He finds a friend and mentor in Aidan Madsen, schoolmaster, local Revolutionary War historian, musician and keeper of the Grayson women’s darkest secrets.

In a skillful move by Fullbright, those secrets are revealed through the viewpoints of three different people–Aidan, Francis and Francis’stepdaughter, Elyse–adding layers of eloquent complexity to a story as powerful as it is troubling. While Francis realizes his dream of forming his own big band in the 1940s, his success is tempered by the inner monster of his childhood, one that roars to life when he marries Elyse’s mother. Elyse becomes her stepfather’s favorite target, and her bitterness becomes entwined with a desire to know the real Francis Grayson. For Aidan’s part, his involvement with the Grayson family only deepens, and secrets carried for a lifetime begin to coalesce as he seeks to enlighten Francis–and subsequently Elyse–of why the events of so many years ago matter now.

The ugliness of deceit, betrayal and resentment permeates the narrative, yet there are shining moments of hope, especially in the relationship between Elyse and her grandfather. Ultimately, as more of the past filters into the present, the question becomes: What is the truth, and whose version of the truth is correct? Fullbright never untangles this conundrum, and it only adds to the richness of this exemplary novel.” Kirkus Reviews

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Historical / Psychological Mystery

Rating – PG13

More details about the author

Connect with Lee Fullbright on Facebook

Website http://leefullbright.com/


What Inspired Me To Write The Angry Woman Suite
by Lee Fullbright
I’m a fourth-generation Californian, and from birth we Californians are wired to play in the sun, to live in the moment. But while exploring the state of Pennsylvania some years back, I made an impromptu stop at the Chadds Ford house where George Washington had plotted his infamous Battle of the Brandywine—a battle the Continental Army lost—and in front of that old house something changed inside me.

Not only did I suddenly and passionately want to know everything about something old—what had happened in beautiful Chadds Ford over two hundred years ago—but I had a germ of an idea for a novel about 20th century characters also struggling for autonomy. In fact, I actually knew on that particular day that one of my characters would be a woman looking back on her life, and that her journey to freedom (in her case, freedom from a dysfunctional family) would be interwoven with another character’s similar journey, and analogously with Washington’s fight for freedom at Chadds Ford (keeping in mind that even though that battle was lost, the war was still won, and spectacularly—terrible cliché, but it works).

Doesn’t sound that hard, does it, buckling down to research and a regular writing schedule? Well, I wish I could tell you I slipped smoothly into historical research, but I’d be a big, fat liar saying I slipped smoothly into anything. I struggled to find my way, to find a balance somewhere in-between research, writing, a fulltime job, house, husband, dog, friends, extended family, my workout schedule—and sleep! It wasn’t always pretty. And without sleep I wasn’t much to look at, either.

And then there were those days when I was sure I was a total idiot, even thinking I could pull together a historical suspense story told by different narrators in divergent times— that is, until my husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness—which is where that word analogy comes back into play.

My husband (called DDF) always believed in me. If I said I was going to do something, I don’t think he ever, ever doubted me (if he did, he never let on). He wanted The Angry Woman Suite as much as I did—and so it was DDF who inspired my final push. I was determined to get a completed bound book into his hands before he died.

And it happened just that way. The Angry Woman Suite, a story about losing before winning, and a Discovery Award winner, was in DDF’s hands in March of 2012. He wasn’t able to read by that point, but he turned that book over and over in his hands, and he smiled BIG.

DDF died a month and a half later. The Angry Woman Suite is, of course, dedicated to him.

Murder on the First Day of Christmas by Billie Thomas

It’s beginning to look a lot like murder.

Finding a severed hand at a client’s house might throw lesser decorators off their games. But Chloe Carstairs and her mother, Amanda, won’t let a little thing like murder keep them from decking the halls. With a body under the partridge’s pear tree and a dead Santa in a sleigh, they have to crack the case before the killer strikes again – this time much too close to home.

Filled with laugh-out-loud humor, romance and a delightfully difficult mother-daughter relationship, this new series from Billie Thomas offers a fast-paced caper as these two southern ladies try to keep their very merry Christmas from turning into the Noel from hell.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Mystery Rating – PG

Connect with Chloe Carstairs on Facebook & Twitter & GoodReads

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Becoming a Published Author
by Billie Thomas
How much work it’d be:

I’ve forgiven Sue Grafton for saying Indie authors are “too lazy to do the hard work”, but I haven’t forgotten it. Every hour I slaved over my manuscript, every round of revisions and skirmish with my editor, not to mention every tweet, blog post, and interview I do to promote it, is a harsh reminder that getting published is the most exhausting, soul-sucking dream come true I could ever imagine. You have to love this business, and for better or worse, I do.

That “the end” is only the beginning:

When you finish your last revision for your book and make the last proofing change, the real work is just about to begin. And I call it work, because the writing is such a pleasure. The marketing? Not so much. Maybe I’m jaded because my day job is in advertising, but as a new author, trying to carve out a little niche for yourself in such a competitive field is overwhelming at times. Luckily, once you get the hang of it and start connecting with other writers, it gets easier, though no less time-consuming.

How important social networking would be.

As an indie writer, I have to do all my marketing myself. And since I don’t have an unlimited marketing budget – what new writer does? – I’m so grateful for social media. This is truly the age of the introvert. I can sit at my computer and connect with other writers, readers, bloggers and journalists all over the world to spread the word about my book. At first you’re relying on the kindness of strangers, but over time, and by making good connections, you become friends with these people. It’s really one of the unexpected pleasures of getting published.

How my friends and family would rise to the occasion

As an indie author, the power of word of mouth is immeasurable. My friends and family have done a wonderful job helping me spread the word about The Chloe Carstairs mysteries. I’m really humbled by their support.

How quickly I’d begin to measure my self-worth by my Amazon ranking

Oh, those fickle numbers. Some days they’re up, some days they’re down. I try not to check more than three times a day. Ok, five. I can’t be the only one.

How thrilled I’d be to get a fan letter

I’m not going to lie. I got a little teary. The letter came from a complete stranger via chloegetsaclue.com and I don’t think my feet touched the ground for the rest of the day.

That my retirement from advertising would have to wait.

Writing is a labor of love. It feeds my soul, but unfortunately not my body. I’ll have to keep working for a while to keep food on the table and my puppy in kibble.

That writing would take a back burner if I’m not careful

I’m honestly not complaining about how much work goes into marketing an indie book. But I do see a potential conflict of interest coming up between promoting book one and writing book two. Finding balance between the two is a work in progress, but I’m getting there.

That with great opportunity comes great responsibility.

There are unprecedented opportunities for Indie writers these days but we HAVE to hit “pause” before we hit “publish” and ask ourselves some tough questions: Is this book the best it can be? Has it been vetted by Beta readers, proofed by an eagle-eyed editor? Are the darlings dead and story tight? If we want to be taken seriously we have to approach this industry with as much professionalism as passion.

That I would be so proud to re-define myself as a writer.

As I’ve said, I work in advertising so I do make a living writing. But when asked what I do, I’ve always said “writer, I mean, in advertising.” Now I just say writer and smile. Because it’s finally true in every sense of the word.

The Bridgeman by Catherine Astolfo

Some secrets can come back to haunt you…

Principal Emily Taylor feels safe in the friendly little town of Burchill—until she finds a body in her school. The murder of caretaker Nathaniel Ryeburn brings back memories she’d rather forget and plunges Emily into a mystery that involves a secret diary, an illegal puppy mill and a murderer innocently disguised as an ordinary citizen.

As fear rips through the traumatized town, Emily’s investigation inadvertently leads the police to her door, and to her husband Langford, who is hiding a secret of his own. It becomes clear to Emily that many of Burchill’s residents are merely wearing masks. And it’s time for those masks to be ripped away…and for a killer’s identity to be revealed.

“A story rich in detail with unexpected twists and turns.” —Meredith Henderson, actress, film producer, poet

“Love and depravity, rebirth and rot, veneer and the real wood underneath—Astolfo brings these opposing forces into play.” —Garry Ryan, author of the Detective Lane Mysteries

“Master storyteller Cathy Astolfo pulls out all the stops as old secrets come back to kill…in this chilling story of twisted desires.” —Lou Allin, author of She Felt No Pain

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Mystery

Rating – 18+

More details about the author

Connect with Catherine Astolfo on Facebook and Twitter

What Inspired Me to Write My Book by Catherine Astolfo
The devil inspired me to write The Bridgeman. Not literally, I hope, but more in the sense that I am intrigued by evil people. I am attracted to the reasons behind their darkness. As an old song says, evil grows in the dark…or does it? I think truly wicked people walk among us, aliens with human faces. Their lack of empathy, twisted ideas and desire to hurt absolutely make me want to dig around and find out why.

There are theories that psychopaths have brains that are wired differently. They feel no empathy, are narcissistic and obsessed. Reader’s Digest once published an article entitled, “Psychopaths among us”. There are those who claim that a great number of CEO’s (those people who get paid millions of dollars to hire and fire) share a great many characteristics with psychopaths and sociopaths. They just use that extra “edge” and lack of sympathy in more socially acceptable ways.

The hidden evil in some people – the ability to wear a mask of nice while seething with twisted thoughts underneath – is even more fascinating to me. Once when I was driving through a small Ontario town, I had to wait at an old-fashioned drawbridge that spanned the canal. A completely blank and bored looking man was working away at the wheels. Barely noticed, red-checkered jacket, plain face, every day, slow habits and movements. And I thought: what could this almost invisible person be hiding? What dark secrets might lie beneath the banality of his existence?

At the same time, my niece had acquired a job as a veterinarian’s assistant. Her tales of the puppy and kitten mills and their victims gave me an idea for the secret my ordinary lockmaster might suppress.

Thus was born The Bridgeman, my first mystery novel. “I deserve no more smiles, no friendship, no pity, no love, no feather or silk or fur, no soft skin.” My character had some self-recrimination, and turned out to be capable of love, so he was not completely savage, but he was close.

From my experiences in schools, or from the newspapers, where kids shot and killed other kids, burned down a house (with their families inside), tortured and maimed animals, my character, The Bridgeman, is not so far-fetched. Nor are the other diabolical characters in the ensuing novels of my series very far from reality. They are scary, but these people do exist.

However, what I love about the world of fiction—everything turns out all right in the end. Most of the time, anyway.

Review - Rock My World by Sharisse Coulter

Jenna Jax-Anders hit rock bottom in high school. Or so she thought. From rock star heiress to knocked-up has been, she turned it all around, marrying the punk rock baby daddy love of her life. The perfect Hollywood fairytale. Until the day she walked in on him kissing her best friend.

First off let me say I love the cover! I know this will sound awful of me but I am a sucker for a pretty cover and sadly I do judge books by the covers sometimes.

I liked Jenna and hated what she was going thru but a part of me feels she acted a bit high schoolish about how she handled it and even a little neglectful on the part of abandoning her daughter to run off to parts unknown and sulk over her problems when she should have put on her big girl panties and faced them head on to begin with. Best friend or not had I seen her kissing my hubby especially in my own home I would of decked her or at the very least stood my ground and started asking questions not run off not truly understanding what was going on but I understand folks do handle things in different ways....

The biggest thing I feel I am taking away from Rock My World is it's never to late to start over, to find yourself, or even to re-create yourself.

Buy Now @ Amazon, Barnes and Noble & Kobo

Genre – Contemporary Women’s Fiction

Rating – PG13

Connect with Sharisse Coulter on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://leecoulter.com/tour/

No Innocent Affair by Edward F. Mrkvicka Jr.

‘Thou shalt not commit adultery’ (Exodus 20:14). Have you found yourself contemplating committing adultery? Are you currently in an adulterous relationship? Have you been affected by an act of adultery? If you answered yes to any of these questions, No Innocent Affair: Making Right the Wrong of Adultery is the tool you need. An avid student of the Word, Ed Mrkvicka addresses the fact that adultery is one of the main contributors to the destruction of the American family and seeks to reverse this terrifying statistic. Mrkvicka posits that few who engage in adulterous relationships realize the enormity of the cost of infidelity, both to themselves and innocent people in their lives.

Beginning by comparing God’s view of adultery to society’s view, No Innocent Affair explains in frank yet loving terms that unrepentant adultery is more than just an innocent affair. It is choosing Satan over Jesus and death over life. Mrkvicka desires to lead adulterers to repentance and eternal life with Jesus Christ. Most importantly, No Innocent Affair takes you on a step-by-step biblical progression that leads to the sin of adultery being forgiven and salvation reclaimed. Infidelity is no easy subject to discuss, but it is one that must be addressed. Follow along on this exploration of the consequences and ways out of adultery.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Christian Living / Relationships

Rating – PG

Connect with Edward F. Mrkvicka, Jr. on Facebook & Facebook

Website http://www.edwardfmrkvickajr.com/

The Book of Paul by Richard Long

“Everything you’ve ever believed about yourself…about the description of reality you’ve clung to so stubbornly all your life…all of it…every bit of it…is an illusion.”

In the rubble-strewn wasteland of Alphabet City, a squalid tenement conceals a treasure “beyond all imagining”– an immaculately preserved, fifth century codex. The sole repository of ancient Hermetic lore, it contains the alchemical rituals for transforming thought into substance, transmuting matter at will…and attaining eternal life.

When Rose, a sex and pain addicted East Village tattoo artist has a torrid encounter with Martin, a battle-hardened loner, they discover they are unwitting pawns on opposing sides of a battle that has shaped the course of human history. At the center of the conflict is Paul, the villainous overlord of an underground feudal society, who guards the book’s occult secrets in preparation for the fulfillment of an apocalyptic prophecy.

The action is relentless as Rose and Martin fight to escape Paul’s clutches and Martin’s destiny as the chosen recipient of Paul’s sinister legacy. Science and magic, mythology and technology converge in a monumental battle where the stakes couldn’t be higher: control of the ultimate power in the universe–the Maelstrom.

The Book of Paul is the first of seven volumes in a sweeping mythological narrative tracing the mystical connections between Hermes Trismegistus in ancient Egypt, Sophia, the female counterpart of Christ, and the Celtic druids of Clan Kelly.

Buy now @ Amazon

Genre – Paranormal Thriller / Dark Fantasy

Rating – R

Connect with Richard Long on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.thebookofpaul.com/

Frank Nappi - Nobody Has To Know

Nobody Has To Know, Frank Nappi’s dark and daring new thriller, tells the story of Cameron Baldridge, a popular high school teacher whose relationship with one of his students leads him down an unfortunate and self-destructive path. Stalked through text-messages, Baldridge fights for his life against a terrifying extortion plot and the forces that threaten to expose him. Nobody Has To Know is a sobering look into a world of secrets, lies, and shocking revelations, and will leave the reader wondering many things, including whether or not you can ever really know the person you love.

“A haunting, briskly-paced page turner that explores the darkest recesses of the human psyche while propelling the reader through an intricate series of hair-raising twists and turns. Nobody Has to Know is a masterfully written tale that is expertly told. Frank Nappi knows how to entertain the reader from start to finish.”
– #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Nelson DeMille

Teaching on a Tight-Rope by Frank Nappi
Teaching my novel to my own students is an experience I shall never forget – thrilling yes, but only in a manner tantamount to a dream where I am walking a tight-rope stretched precariously across a ravine filled with rapacious creatures, all without the comfort of a safety net. Or perhaps clothing. Or both.

Gasp.

Not too long ago, both the English Director and the Superintendent of the school district where I teach English and Creative Writing recognized the value of my students reading my novel, The Legend of Mickey Tussler, in class. All of us acknowledged the unique nature of such an endeavor and proceeded with alacrity. “Your students will benefit from ‘asking the author’ about the creation of plot, characters, writer’s craft, etc.” my supervisor said. “And be given immediate, first-hand feedback. It is priceless.” The superintendent was equally ebullient. “Frank, this is a wonderful opportunity for both you and your students,” he gushed. “They get the privilege of hearing you speak about the creation of the story they are reading and analyzing it and you will be able to ascertain valuable insights into my own story as seen through the eyes of some hesitant yet inquisitive minds in return.” Hearing their spirited sentiments buoyed my own zeal. Yes, this would be a blast – an extreme alteration of the traditional classroom milieu – the pinnacle of an English teacher’s customary practice. What could possibly be more fulfilling?

Cue the tight-rope.

The first wave of trepidation came by way of a diffident, slight girl who occupied the very first seat in front of me.

“But what if we don’t like the book,” she asked in tremulous tones. “We don’t want to insult you Mr. Nappi with what we say?” I was able to ameliorate her concerns easily enough. I simply explained that we would spend some time analyzing my book in class, similar to the way we had done Huckleberry Finn, Ethan Frome, and The Great Gatsby. In an attempt to further assuage her angst, I shared that I had spoken to students from other school districts who read the book and although much of what we talked about was of the critical variety, I was still emotionally in tact and no students who voiced displeasure of any kind suffered any form of malediction. She was satisfied, but I was unmoored; the report of the shot she had fired resonated in my ears like the clashing of cymbals. What if they really don’t like it? I thought. Then what? My apprehension burgeoned exponentially and I felt the need to flee but alas, it was too late; I was in too far.

The rope was already stretched, and I had taken those first few steps. I could not bear to look down.

So I inched along warily with both arms stretched out and discovered, much to my delight, that the experience was indeed everything that those who had conceived the idea said it would be. There were some dissenters of course, those who invoked the teenage mantra of “why do we have to read anyway?” and a handful of others politely suggested that I failed to capture their interest. Truth be told, it hurt a little. Most of my students, however, were thoroughly engaged and genuinely intrigued by the process by which an idea becomes a novel. They asked provocative questions and offered insightful comments about the characters and the thematic issues explored in the novel. It was beautiful; these young readers were provided with a window into the world of the creative arts and they peered in, learning many of the intricacies germane to creative writing. And if that were not enough, teaching what I had written years before made me fall in love all over again with my characters and the circumstances in which I placed them.

I was halfway across the ravine with nary a wiggle….but then the rope began to sway.

One of my students suggested that they write reviews of the book for me as a culminating activity. These reviews ranged from high praise to tepid interest to outright disdain. Again, the more pejorative ones stung a bit, but I was grateful nevertheless for their candor, insight and observations.

I was struggling a bit now but still had my footing.

It was only after some of my students had posted their reviews on sites like Amazon and Goodreads, that I felt my knees begin to slacken and my feet give way. The less favorable assessments stung more in print and I learned that someone with ill intent suggested that I was “compensating” students for positive reviews, even though those posted represented a fairly mixed lot. I found myself under siege, my character and integrity impugned unjustifiably. I also found myself questioning my decision making abilities; why did I agree to let my students read my book in class? It exposed me in ways that no teacher should ever be.

I made it to the other side of the ravine, but I was hanging by my hands.

Some weeks later, I received several emails from both students and parents, thanking me for being “brave” enough to teach my novel. Suddenly I felt better. Maybe I could do it again, I mused, with another one of my novels. Not a bad idea I suppose, except for the nature of my latest – a mystery/thriller called Nobody Has To Know, the dark and somewhat daring story of Cameron Baldridge, a popular high school teacher whose relationship with one of his students leads him down an unfortunate and self-destructive path.

Hmmm. I may have to pass this time. That’s one tight-rope that could easily become a noose.



Buy now @ Amazon

Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG13

Connect with Frank Nappi on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.franknappi.com/

Guest - Marti MacGibbon - Never Give In To Fear

Never Give in to Fear: Laughing All the Way Up from Rock Bottom, the enhanced edition of this darkly funny, dramatic memoir, describes an emerging standup comic’s drug-fueled descent into the underworld, escape from human traffickers, homelessness, and ultimate redemption. With brutal honesty, humor, and clarity, the author vividly describes her experiences as she rides her downward spiral: a near-miss with a notorious serial killer, a series of tragically hilarious misadventures in the California drug world, and a terrifying account of imprisonment at the hands of Japanese organized crime, to name a few.

This revised and re-edited version contains three additional chapters that introduce readers to quirky characters, insights into standup comedy, resilience and recovery, and deliver an inspiring message about healing, hope, and courage to change.

GUEST POST - Seven Tips for Being a Better Writer by Marti MacGibbon
Writing is something we all do, every day of our lives. We compose emails, social media posts, write heartfelt letters to friends and family or crisp missives to business associates. Some people are gifted wordsmiths, delighting everyone with their talent, and yet they don’t think of themselves as possessing any special writing skills. Others know they’re writers, because they are published authors or popular bloggers. No matter how¾or if, you see yourself as a contender in the literary world, you can’t escape the fact that you are a writer. And in the course of writing day to day, you’ve collected valuable tips and strategies for being better at it. If you’re like me, you’re always thrilled to find a new piece of advice, or a tip or technique that you can add to your arsenal. Here are seven of my favorite tips for being a better writer:

Don’t dream about it, agonize over it, or talk about it. Do it. Writing, like standup comedy or skydiving, is best done by doing. Sure, you want to be prepared and well-informed about the risks and benefits prior to the experience, but don’t hold back and obsess on every little detail of planning and preparation before you get started, or you run the risk of getting bogged down in perfectionism and the resulting procrastination that can block your process. Instead, jump in and go crazy. Really let yourself go, leave your ego in the backseat and don’t let it drive. Your process will guide you, and the process of writing generates new ideas as you go.

Write with an audience in mind. When you write to a potential reader, you automatically become more conversational, flexible and realistic in your dialogue and description. Be intimate. I visualize a friend who knows me well and who would never judge me, but will be honest and call me on my B.S. And this friend is funny; gets my sense of humor. When I do this, it’s easy to get into the flow. Personally, I write to an audience of one at a time. I never envision a collective audience of readers or I tend to be stilted or phony.

Make use of tools that improve quality and work with an editor. Spelling, grammar, correct punctuation and illustrious vocabulary are all available through a variety of channels. The internet has brought all the manuals of style and reference books to within a click’s distance. Word processing programs have spell check and every other possible device to ensure excellence. Keep a thesaurus and dictionary on hand. Beyond that stage, work with an editor. Every writer needs a second set of eyes, or as many sets of eyes as possible to read, proofread and then do it all again.

Write about what you know, and what you love. When you’re writing, you’re communicating your innermost feelings and ideas on the page. You want it to sizzle and reverberate with passion and authenticity. A writing project is intimate, it’s your partner. Choose to write about something you can live with. When I wrote Never Give in to Fear, I had to wake up with it in the morning and go to sleep with it at night. Some of the things I described in my memoir were painful to recount. But I knew my story, and I love the fact that I’ve come back. The telling required me reliving some very traumatic experiences from long ago, but I knew it was necessary to relive those things in order for the description to hit the page and raw. But I lived in peace with the book, because I’d already gone through a process of forgiving, making amends and creating a new lifestyle, so I felt safe through it all, in that present moment.

Associate with positive people, and get rid of any negative influences. Writing is a work of the soul. You want to take very good care of yourself and be sure that your environment is supportive. Don’t listen to naysayers who speak from their own fear. Instead, stick with the winners: positive thinkers, preferably writers who share the experience and will offer honest feedback and share pointers and lead by example.

Description and detail, action and excitement are essential. Paint the scene with your words. Let the reader experience the entire moment, hour, day, or year through all five senses. Bring it all to life. The more detailed the description, the better. The character jumped in the car? What kind of car? What was the make, the year, the condition of the chassis, how did the engine sound? Did it sputter, or purr? Action verbs create action in your story. Avoid passive voice at all costs. Keep your description fit and muscular, if it gets soft and flabby it won’t carry your story.

Never give in to fear. Banish fear from your writing environment. Fear, more than any other obstacle, can hold you back from the fun, the satisfaction and the glorious discovery that writing brings. Whenever the scaredy-cat, monster-under-the-bed doubts and negative statements rise up in your consciousness, recognize them for the irrational, creativity-crushing lies that they are and push them aside. Don’t be afraid to write badly, you can always go back later and edit out any parts you don’t like. The main thing is to write, write, write until you find your rhythm, attitude and voice. Just get that first outline down, and paddle it out into the waves of creation, and keep riding those waves till you get your first draft done. After that, you hone and refine and polish and destroy and create some more until you have what you recognize as your work.

Here’s a quote from acclaimed author Frank Herbert’s Dune series: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” I love that quote. I hope you do, too. And I hope your writing will grow, multiply, amaze, and thrill your readers. Enjoy the process.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Biographies & Memoirs

Rating – R

More details about the book

Connect with Marti MacGibbon on Facebook & Twitter

RW Peake - Marching With Caesar

In the second book of the critically acclaimed Marching With Caesar series, Titus Pullus and his friends in the 10th Legion are called on to serve as the agents of change as their general, Gaius Julius Caesar singlehandedly changes the Roman Republic to Empire. From Spain and the dusty plains of Pharsalus, to the streets of Rome itself, Titus must survive the battlefield and navigate the treacherous world of Roman politics.

Helping Titus are his surviving tentmates, including his best friend Vibius Domitius, but like the rest of the Republic, their friendship is tested by the strife and fratricide that comes with civil war. At the same time, Titus has to deal with the challenges that have confronted career military members throughout the ages as he tries to balance the demands and heartache created by the long absences from his young family.

Nevertheless, through it all Titus and the men of the 10th Legion continue Marching With Caesar.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Historical Fiction

Rating – PG13

Connect with RW Peake on Facebook & Twitter

Blog http://blog.rwpeake.com/

Blog Guest Post
A Day in the Life of RW Peake
All in all, it’s good to be me. I’m at a point where I’m selling books at a rate of three figures a day, so I can now say that I’m an author who does this full time. My normal day consists of checking my sales, then checking my email. At this point, I’m averaging 3 to 4 pieces of correspondence from fans a day, and I will continue to answer each and every one of them personally as long as I can. I have some truly great fans who have responded to my books with such an overwhelming and positive enthusiasm that I feel very strongly that it’s incumbent on me to take time to communicate with them. I’ve heard and actually debated with other indie authors who believe that this is beneath them, that there should be some sort of invisible barrier between themselves and their great, unwashed fans. For lack of a better term, I think this is utter bullshit. Long before I became an author of my genre, I was a fan, and I love nothing more than talking about Ancient Rome with fellow enthusiasts. One day this may change, or the rate of correspondence might become too much to handle, but that’s a problem I’ll deal with when it gets here, and it’s a really good problem to have in the first place.

After that, I scan the Internet looking for anything that pertains to my books that I can put on my Facebook fan page and Tweet about. For example, I’ve been the #1 best seller in the Ancient Rome genre for quite some time now, so once a week I inform the world of that fact, and how long the streak has continued. Also, I’ve been fortunate to receive a very high number of reviews, and the vast majority of them are in the 4 or 5 star range, and I’m not shy about letting the world know. I would refer back to Ted Turner’s adage.

Next, I spend a significant portion of my day adding to a blog that I’ve created called Caesar Triumphant, a suppositional history of a Caesar that survived the Ides of March and in fact goes on his campaign to Parthia as he had planned. My story actually picks up 10 years later, when he and his army invades Japan, the final land to be conquered by the greatest conqueror of all time. It’s more for fun than anything, and is based on a simple idea; if the Legions of Rome faced the samurai of Japan, who would win? Of course the eras that are the classical periods for both civilization don’t match up, and I wasn’t willing to introduce time travel, so what Caesar and his men (the central characters are from the Marching With Caesar series, just 10 years older) have to face are proto-samurai.

Finally, I am working on the final edit of my next book, Marching With Caesar-Antony and Cleopatra, which will be out on February 24th.

Oh, and I also play a lot of video games, watch enormous amounts of daytime TV, and pretty much do what I want, when I want. Yes, it’s good to be me.

Jo Briggs Feature/Interview

A modern take on the classic Pride & Prejudice premise.

Model, Elle Benedict is young, beautiful and headstrong. When she overhears billionaire, William Dexter insulting her integrity, it leaves her deep attraction to him in tatters.

As William stumbles over himself to repair the damage, he pursues her intensely, and begins to draw her into his private world. They embark on a relationship, consumed by love and desire, awakening feelings neither had experienced before.

But not everything is perfect. Jealousy and misunderstandings allow a so-called friend to seek out the cracks in their relationship and use them to manipulate and interfere, intent on ruining a little boy’s life before he has even drawn a breath.

Seven years of euphoria to the depths of a dark abyss of pain awaits them.

Their journey is a carefully woven story thread of murder, paternity, jealous lovers and family members, and misunderstandings.

Can their love be rekindled?

***Author Interview***
Skittles or M&Ms? M&Ms

Any other books in the works? Goals for future projects? Yes, two projects at the moment. One is a stand-alone romance called Half Truth Whole Lie that is still only halfway through its first draft. The other is a trilogy about a Rock Star called Broken Strings, which is complete in rough form. Both I hope to have out during 2013.

If you could have any superpower what would you choose? Supersonic flying

If you could invite any 5 people to dinner who would you choose? Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, JFK, Queen Victoria and Jane Austen

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Any Ben & Jerrys

Night owl, or early bird? Early Bird

One food you would never eat? Parsnips

What was your favorite book when you were a child/teen? The Outsiders by S E Hinton

Is there a song you could list as the theme song for your book or any of your characters? Love the way you lie by Rihanna and Eminem

If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? New York

You have won one million dollars what is the first thing that you would buy? A new Audi R8

What TV show/movie/book do you watch/read that you’d be embarrassed to admit? Made in Chelsea, which is a reality show in the UK about the lives of some posh 20-somethings and the bizarre things they do and say.

What’s your favorite season/weather? Summer sun

What is your guilty pleasure? Chocolate

What is your dream cast for your book? Clive Own as William & Natalie Portman as Elle

What’s one piece of advice you would give aspiring authors? To take all bad reviews with a pinch of salt, skim them for things you can improve on, ignore any pointless remarks, but above all do not let it stop you from continuing to write. And never ever respond to the nasty ones.

What movie and/or book are you looking forward to this year? Argo

Favorite music? Coldplay, Muse, U2

Favorite Candy? Flake

If you were a bird, which one would you be? Penguin

Buy now @ Amazon

Genre – Contemporary Romance

Rating – R

More details about the book

Connect with Jo Briggs on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.jebriggs.co.uk/

Guest Post - The Mancode: Exposed Rachel Thompson

Blurb:

***You will either LOVE this controversial book or you will HATE it. If you have no sense of humor, DO NOT BUY IT.***

I’m over forty. I don’t have a blankie. I have vodka. I’m no ‘ologist.’ I don’t give advice. If that’s what you’re looking for, go buy Dr. Suit And Tie’s book. I write about men, women, sex, & chocolate. My experiences, my truth, my martinis.

*Note: Thompson employs hashtags (i.e., the # sign) in her work. Google it. These are not typos, people #deargod.

Buy this book!

Can’t get enough of Thompson’s snarky humor? Purchase her first release, A Walk In The Snark, her #1 bestselling collection of essays released January 2011, hitting #1 on the Motherhood list September, 2011 and has stayed there. Find out why!

I’m a chick who writes stuff that makes you laugh. I released The Mancode: Exposed right after Thanksgiving 2011 and by January, it placed in the Amazon Top 100 Paid!

I’m a mom, a wife, and a recovering pharmaceuticals rep. It’s been a long process but I’m doing okay, thanks.

I also used to sell Trojan brand condoms. Yeah, it’s hilarious, I know. I did it for three years way back when, and I was their top salesperson in the Western Region, a dubious honor at best. My number-one customer was the Mustang Ranch. No, seriously. The Mustang Ranch. I couldn’t make stuff like that up.

The experience definitely gave me insights into the… er… ins and outs of men.

So it should come as no great surprise that I write about how men (The Mancode) and women (Chickspeak) approach most things differently. And since I did, in fact, grow past my Trojan days (in more ways than one or–insert your own joke here), I’ve thrown in a few tidbits about marriage, kids, being a mom, living in the OC (ya know-being a pale redhead living in a sea of blondes), coffee, and vodka. Not necessarily in that order, depending on the day.

Don’t read my books to find advice about how to be sweet or nice. I’m pretty much allergic to both of those words. Actually don’t read this book for advice on anything. (My lawyer made me put that in just in case you know, you thought I could save your marriage or something – not).

Or if you are looking for some light, heartfelt humor in everyday life (Erma Bombeck-style), well, I’m really not your girl, either. Nothin’ homespun about the Queen of Snark, baby. Mostly I just laugh at stuff and make up words (See “Refrigeratoritis and Manesia.”) Yet somehow it all seems to work.

And don’t call me cute. (Hint: Babies and puppies are cute. Grown women are soooo not.)

Special note to men: I write frequently about “The Mancode”–like how you guys do goofy stuff and we women try, and often fail, to understand. (Um, change the toilet paper roll much? Yeah, that’s what I thought.) If that offends your sensibilities, this may not be the book for you. Yeah, I’m crushed.

Like everyone, I’ve also had some rough times. I share those with you, too. Life can’t always be martinis and beaches. Wait, this is the OC (Orange County, CA, for those of you from Canada, or people on the East Coast who don’t know California beyond LA). Naw, not even here.

Purchase The Man Code: Exposed

Rachel's Facebook and Twitter Pages.

Book Feature/Giveaway - Ann Pearlman and Terri Giuliano Long

From the 19th to 21st of September, award-winning bestseller Terri Giuliano Long and Pulitzer prize nominee Ann Pearlman will be joining together to share their experiences of different publishing journeys.

In celebration of this great event, Ann and Terri are also giving away paperback copies of their novels, plus a Kindle Fire!

Amazon Kindle Link
At the heart of the seemingly perfect Tyler family stands sixteen-year-old Leah. Her proud parents are happily married, successful professionals. Her adoring younger sister is wise and responsible beyond her years. And Leah herself is a talented athlete with a bright collegiate future. But living out her father’s lost dreams, and living up to her sister’s worshipful expectations, is no easy task for a teenager. And when temptation enters her life in the form of drugs, desire, and a dangerously exciting boy, Leah’s world turns on a dime from idyllic to chaotic to nearly tragic.

As Leah’s conflicted emotions take their toll on those she loves–turning them against each other and pushing them to destructive extremes–In Leah’s Wake powerfully explores one of fiction’s most enduring themes: the struggle of teenagers coming of age, and coming to terms with the overwhelming feelings that rule them and the demanding world that challenges them. Terri Giuliano Long’s skillfully styled and insightfully informed debut novel captures the intensely personal tragedies, victories, and revelations each new generation faces during those tumultuous transitional years.

Recipient of multiple awards and honors, In Leah’s Wake is a compelling and satisfying reading experience with important truths to share–by a new author with the voice of a natural storyteller and an unfailingly keen understanding of the human condition…at every age.

Amazon Kindle Link
Ann Pearlman’s The Christmas Cookie Club enthralled readers everywhere with a heartwarming and touching story about the power of female friendship.

Now, in A Gift for My Sister, she once again explores the depth of the human heart, and this time it’s through the eyes of two sisters. Tara and Sky share a mother, but aside from that they seem to differ in almost every way. When a series of tragedies strikes, they must somehow come together in the face of heartbreak, dashed hopes, and demons of the past. The journey they embark on forces each woman to take a walk in the other’s shoes and examine what sisterhood really means to them. It’s a long road to understanding, and everyone who knows them hopes these two sisters can find a way back to each other.

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Book Feature/Guest Post - The Art of Change by Kelly Andria

When gallery owner Nellie, a giving yet neurotic New Yorker, brings together the mismatched cast of characters in the opening of Ryan Whittaker’s debut, a phallic show, little does she know that she is setting the scene for odd and unpredictable relationships, much like Shakespeare in Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The frenzied, magical mix-up is an outrageous farce with a deep moral message: there is a RIGHT place for everyone in this world and love and friendship cement us in it.

The Art of Change is a funny, smooth reading romance, which deals with bridging differences in gender, education, social milieu, in an insane but pragmatic, modern fairytale, set in New York City.

The twists of the plot are written without an ounce of cynicism but simply acknowledging that life is neither here nor there, neither black or white and all can be dealt with in real friendship and love.

A Tale of Two Authors
Also published in Athens Insider, September / October 2012 issue

When two friends Kelly Intzides and Vivian Andria, decided to co-write a book replete with colourful personalities and gender-bending, life-altering twists set in their beloved New York, not only did they end up with a very readable book but also with a whole new career

So how did the idea of writing a book together come about.? Says Andria, “Writing with another person is a matter of chemistry – you either have it or you don’t. And it certainly cannot be forced. We started this project in gest. We described characters to each other one night over wine and cheese, stretching the limits of our imagination like children. “What if a gallery owner wanted to cater an event? What is she didn’t choose the conventional hors d’oeuvres? What if a renowned art critic fell in love with a cook from Queens, who didn’t even know he was gay? What if his Ukrainian wife became the artist’s muse?”

Kelly pipes in, “We decided on a plot together and on where we wanted to the characters to go. One of us would write one chapter … then the other would rip it apart and to rewrite! We had a great time doing it.”

Says Vivian, “We assigned traits to our characters, from people who we know and love and we almost always agreed with each other. We didn’t want villains in the story. This was our world, our evening nights of fun and story exchange. We could create the utopia we wanted and support it throughout our plot. We crossed out each other’s lines, with no hurt feelings and added our own. We waited anxiously for each other to send back the corrected chapter. “Did Kelly take my last paragraph out? Did she find it boring and esoteric?” “Did Vivian like the dialogue or did she think it was easy comedy?” We laughed with the unexpected scenes: the Japanese couple that bought a work of art that didn’t fit in the house, Ceasar’s Palace in Vegas made from olives, cheese and toothpicks, Pino’s first awkward date with Monroe, Nellie keeping her cool in the chaos through meditation. Who doesn’t know people like that in New York City or who wouldn’t want to read about them?

While they furiously penned their lines while the rest of the family was firmly in bed, Kelly and Vivian called, chatted, skyped and emailed their thoughts to each other. What started as a fun project before Christmas in 2010, was a complete book by June 2011.

“ We only wanted to make people laugh and when one of us strayed to the darker side, usually Vivian who experiences guilt when situations become too light-hearted, Kelly would clap her hands and say “What did we agree on? This is supposed to make people laugh. Nobody cares about our sad life experiences, there are people in MUCH worse place than we are!”

So while the book was ready, a publisher was not. Quite like the actual creative process, their chance encounter with an Australian publisher who was holidaying on Poros led to more dinners and discussions and today the book is rated among the top 75 reads in gay literature.

And how do the authors perceive the book?“If this book can be compared to food, which we love to do, it’s your Sunday brunch with magazines and newspapers, loaded with soul food (carbs) and coffee. If the authors can be compared to cooks, it’s two friends in a small kitchen preparing a quick meal with fresh ingredients without a cookbook. We really threw out the rulebook on this one – no conventions. And we had fun doing it.”

For Greek Kelly who had lived in Manhattan for 28 years, the idea of the book spawned over dinner with friend and fellow-school mom American Vivian Andria, who had moved to Greece from the US when she was just four, and then back again after University, in 1995.

So how did the idea of writing a book together come about.? Says Andria, “Writing with another person is a matter of chemistry – you either have it or you don’t. And it certainly cannot be forced. We started this project in gest. We described characters to each other one night over wine and cheese, stretching the limits of our imagination like children. “What if a gallery owner wanted to cater an event? What is she didn’t choose the conventional hors d’oeuvres? What if a renowned art critic fell in love with a cook from Queens, who didn’t even know he was gay? What if his Ukrainian wife became the artist’s muse?”

Kelly pipes in, “We decided on a plot together and on where we wanted to the characters to go. One of us would write one chapter … then the other would rip it apart and to rewrite! We had a great time doing it.”

Says Vivian, “We assigned traits to our characters, from people who we know and love and we almost always agreed with each other. We didn’t want villains in the story. This was our world, our evening nights of fun and story exchange. We could create the utopia we wanted and support it throughout our plot. We crossed out each other’s lines, with no hurt feelings and added our own. We waited anxiously for each other to send back the corrected chapter. “Did Kelly take my last paragraph out? Did she find it boring and esoteric?” “Did Vivian like the dialogue or did she think it was easy comedy?” We laughed with the unexpected scenes: the Japanese couple that bought a work of art that didn’t fit in the house, Ceasar’s Palace in Vegas made from olives, cheese and toothpicks, Pino’s first awkward date with Monroe, Nellie keeping her cool in the chaos through meditation. Who doesn’t know people like that in New York City or who wouldn’t want to read about them?

While they furiously penned their lines while the rest of the family was firmly in bed, Kelly and Vivian called, chatted, skyped and emailed their thoughts to each other. What started as a fun project before Christmas in 2010, was a complete book by June 2011.

“ We only wanted to make people laugh and when one of us strayed to the darker side, usually Vivian who experiences guilt when situations become too light-hearted, Kelly would clap her hands and say “What did we agree on? This is supposed to make people laugh. Nobody cares about our sad life experiences, there are people in MUCH worse place than we are!”

So while the book was ready, a publisher was not. Quite like the actual creative process, their chance encounter with an Australian publisher who was holidaying on Poros led to more dinners and discussions and today the book is rated among the top 75 reads in gay literature.

And how do the authors perceive the book?“If this book can be compared to food, which we love to do, it’s your Sunday brunch with magazines and newspapers, loaded with soul food (carbs) and coffee. If the authors can be compared to cooks, it’s two friends in a small kitchen preparing a quick meal with fresh ingredients without a cookbook. We really threw out the rulebook on this one – no conventions. And we had fun doing it.”

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Genre – Romance / Literary Fiction

Rating – PG13

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Website http://kellyandria.com/

Guest Post/Book Feature/Giveaway - What Binds Us by Larry Benjamin

Thomas-Edward is only a teenager when he escapes his working-class neighborhood. He's ready for anything—except the arrival of Donovan Whyte in his life. Sophisticated and dazzlingly handsome, Dondi quickly becomes the center of Thomas-Edward's universe, introducing him to a world full of drama, passion and feuding families.

When their relationship fizzles, they remain uneasy friends until Dondi invites Thomas-Edward to his family's summer house. Thomas-Edward is immediately attracted to Dondi's mysterious brother, Matthew—and finds himself hopelessly drawn to both men.

As time passes, Thomas-Edward develops a unique bond with both brothers as they orbit around each other, although he knows only one of them can be his lifelong love. Will the three of them be able to find a way to hold on to each other? Or will love, its loss and the threat of death destroy their connection once and for all?

Writing to Me is ... by Larry Benjamin
Writing is a privilege because I am allowed to make things up, to tell stories. A voice whispers words in the open shell of my ear, words which fall like tears or snow, piling up, forming sentences which rise up and tell a story.

As a writer I have a responsibility to make my characters engaging and tell their truths. I also have a responsibility to readers. Buying a book is a leap of faith. Readers, on the strength of your brand or book blurb, trust you, plunk down their hard-earned cash because they think you will entertain them, will pull them out of themselves, their lives and into another alternate reality—at least for a little while. That makes me want to write the best story I can.

Writing is my salvation, giving me an outlet to express anger, disappointment, grief, joy. My first book, What Binds Us, captures the headiness of youth and first love and sums up the sense of loss and grief that colored so much of the 80s. My next book, Damaged Angels (being released by Bold Strokes Books in October 2012) is my Adele 21. Adele may have set fire to the rain around her faithless, feckless boyfriends, but I had to content myself with setting fire to mine on the page, burning each in an effigy of words. In truth, writing Damaged Angels was more like capturing each one in amber, preserving a moment in time, an experience, capturing a personality, a way of being, so I did not forget.
And finally writing for me is work. There’s more to writing a novel or even a short story than simply creating characters and a story line and dialogue. There’s research that needs to be done to make sure your story is plausible, your characters realistic. Then there’s the business of writing: querying publishers, working with an editor, reviewing a cover to see if it captures the essence of your book, connecting with readers, biting your tongue and holding back tears when you get a bad review.

Yet, writing is something I won’t stop doing. I write because if I don’t, I’m miserable. The words, they come, whether I write them down or not, piling up in my head, making it hard to think of other things, making it impossible to sleep, until I can do nothing but write. I’ve always imagined that the way I feel when I don’t write is the way an asthmatic feels during an attack: gasping for air, unable to think beyond the next elusive breath, waiting for this agony, this impossible feeling of not being able to breathe, to pass.

I would still write, even if no one read a single word I wrote. In What Binds Us Thomas tells the love of his life, Matthew, “I would love you in the dark if I had to.” I would write in the dark if I had to.

I scratch on the wall of my prison, daily, nightly, for I am a writer. Nothing less, nothing more am I. These scratchings, they tell a story if only you will listen, and like all prisoners, words set me, set us, free.

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Genre - GLBT Fiction
Rating - PG15
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